News: Hot Rize’s new recordings are its first in 20-plus years

Hot Rize, seen here playing the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2008, has made its first new recordings in more than 20 years. Reverb file photo by Nathan Rist, heyreverb.com

One of the few bluegrass legends to call Colorado home, Hot Rize is back with some new tunes. The band recently posted two new songs on its website, and they’re the first new recordings from the group in more than 20 years.

The songs, “Diamond Joe” and a reworked “Wichita Lineman,” are blazin’ pickers in the Hot Rize tradition. The new recordings from Pete Wernick, Tim O’Brien, Nick Forster and Bryan Sutton are streaming at hotrize.com.

In Colorado, fans are lucky to see sporadic, semi-annual Hot Rize shows in and around the area. But after big dates at Bonnaroo and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, the group is playing its first U.S. tour in more than a decade — including a Boulder Theater date on Halloween, Oct. 31.

“The world is ready for a revisit from Hot Rize,” said banjo man Pete Wernick, who founded the group in 1978 with O’Brien, Forster and the late Charles Sawtelle. “In the rare times we’ve reunited for one-off performances, we’ve seen a level of enthusiasm that’s been hard to ignore.”